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WNY News
Supervisor Robert Giza recently (finally) declared, “There are a lot of hot spots, as far as traffic goes.” Council Member Dan Amatura has spearheaded an attempt to get the funding to do a traffic study for the south end of Lancaster that would address some of these current “hot spots” and lead to controlling future traffic impacts.
For the past several months Amatura has attempted, and failed, to get federal funding for performing a comprehensive traffic study from Broadway to William Street.
Anyone traveling down William Street well understands the need for such study to address traffic congestion and the related safety issues that exist on the two-lane county road. According to county standards a two-lane road should bear no more than 16,000 vehicles per day. More than that compromises the safety of the community.
At the recent board meeting Amatura informed the attendees that traffic on William Street has increased by 5,000 vehicles since 2001 and now stands at 15,700. That does not include the traffic that will be generated by the Target on Transit Road that has since began operations, and a “gourmet grocery store”, a Wal-Mart and another 100,000 plus feet of retail planned to go next to the Wal-Mart - all abutting William Street.
Amatura had requested Town Engineering consultant Robert Harris, of William Shutt & Associates, arrange a meeting with the Greater Buffalo Niagara Regional Transportation Council (GBNRTC). “At that meeting, they offered to pay half the costs for doing a comprehensive traffic study for the south end of Lancaster,” said Amatura. “We have to find a way to pay for the rest of it.
“They explained how they (GBNRTC) would make a model of the town and do an overlay of our roads and tie it in to our master plan so that we can develop accordingly with the growth we have right now and for future growth, stated Amatura
When questioned whether developments that had not been approved would be held up until the comprehensive traffic study was completed as was initially indicated, Amatura declared, “that still holds true”.
At previous work sessions and regular meetings, Amatura stated that to put in a turning lane from Transit Road to Bowen Road would cost approximately $15 million dollars – and that’s without filling in the ditches that run along William Street.
There had been talk at past board work sessions on having developers contribute to the study. That topic was absent at this meeting. Tying in a comprehensive traffic study with the Town’s master plan improves the chances of receiving grants for future considerations.
Transportation and Land Use Development Improvement Program
For the past several years, residents living on William Street and in subdivisions that empty into William Street have been seeking traffic congestion relief. The following describes the traffic study plans and programs that resulted from the joint meeting*:
Lancaster is a first class town located in Erie County. The Town is interested in making informed decisions about the impacts of development proposals on traffic and transportation, and how to address current and future transportation needs.
Traditionally, proposed land use changes are examined individually in regard to traffic impacts and decisions made in an incremental number**. The town is interested in a comprehensive assessment of proposed development, so that the impacts can be looked at for the expected level of development and necessary improvements planned in a sensible manner.
In an effort to look at the whole picture, the Greater Buffalo-Niagara Regional Transportation Council (GBNRTC) is offering to develop a land use and transportation analysis program. The result would be an interactive tool where traffic is simulated for the way the town is developed now, and traffic added based on proposed land use changes and developments, with the cumulative impacts incorporated to show how traffic changes. Possible improvements to the road and street system can also be examined in terms of the best ways to resolve traffic problems now and in the future.
The approach to doing this begins with creating a base map of the area, and then collecting traffic counts on major roads and turning movements at intersections. Street geometric and traffic signal timings would also be collected. Initial interest is in the rapidly growing southern portion of the town, with the opportunity to expand throughout the whole town in the future.
Using this information, a computer model would be built that shows how traffic is flowing through the town in the current morning and afternoon rush hours. The model provides the ability to see traffic on the screen in 3D and look at backups and problem areas.
Once existing conditions are in place, all proposed developments would be identified by size and location, and included in the base map. The traffic that each development would generate would be calculated and incorporated into the transportation network. Then, the “future” town would be examined for impacts on traffic flow, with future conditions simulated on screen to see what they would look like.
Where traffic problems arise, proposed solutions could be incorporated into the model and the impact of the solution viewed to see if it is having the desired effect. Decisions to accept, reject or modify proposed developments could also be tested using the tool, again viewing the impacts of alternative choices.
The Town would then have this analysis tool to assist in decision making in terms of development, and to properly plan changes to accommodate future traffic flow. Projects identified as needed, can be proposed for inclusion in federal aid requests or other fund sources sought.
The analysis information would be useful in documenting the need for and impact of transportation projects. Once in place, the analysis tool can be expanded to additional growing areas of the Town and also kept up to date with regular traffic counts and land use changes, so accurate examination of proposals can be done in the future without recreating the effort.
Once created, the tool can be used to look at new ideas and perform a range of improvements to test their impact.
* Councilman Amatura, Town Engineering consultant Robert Harris and Supervisor Robert Giza represented the Town at the GBNRTC meeting.
**Too often during SEQR reviews development traffic impacts are rated as “small” to “moderate” based on the size of the project itself, not considering the cumulative effects on the road system.
© Copyright 2008 by Speakupwny.com
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